[By Merlin Lessler]<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sitting on the patio at a Starbucks in Ormond Beach, watching two little birds hop around, picking crumbs from the cracks between the tiles. Not too exciting, you say. You\u2019re wrong. It is. For an old coot, anyhow. <\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s a nice distraction from a changing world. When you\u2019re young, you can\u2019t wait for change \u2013 to graduate from school \u2013 to get a job \u2013 to get married \u2013 to get your own place \u2013 to buy a new car. <\/span><\/p>\n Eventually, you go the other way: you don\u2019t want change; you want things to stay the way they are. That\u2019s when you officially become an old coot. You\u2019ve decided that most changes are not for the better. (For me.) <\/span><\/p>\n It means another friend has moved away. It means your favorite restaurant went out of business. It means you\u2019ve heard yet another clerk say, \u201cThey don\u2019t make that anymore.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n You just want to cover your ears and block out the changes that pop into your life in an endless parade: eggs are bad for you, coffee is bad for you, meat is bad for you, your mower can\u2019t be repaired, and the new ones won\u2019t start unless you squeeze the handle. CHANGES = UGH! <\/span><\/p>\n Today\u2019s change is my elbow. The right one, to be specific. It hurts. It\u2019s a new pain; I never had it before. So, I sit here drinking coffee with my left hand, dribbling a few drops on my clean shirt, distracting myself by watching two little birds have their breakfast. Eventually, I\u2019ll have to get back to the elbow and try to puzzle it out, to wonder why I didn\u2019t appreciate it last week when it felt so good.<\/p>\n